


You Belong To Me, And I Belong To You.

by SHIELD1



Series: We Fell In Love Series [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-13 19:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2163021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHIELD1/pseuds/SHIELD1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old enemy rises again. How will Darcy and the Avengers defeat him again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Meeting’s in 30 Tony.” Darcy said cheerfully. Tony just grunted as he applied a wrench to one of his suits. Darcy went back to her desk, sitting down to dictate one of Tony’s reports for the next fifteen minutes. When she’d started her new job two months ago she’d thought that Tony would hate hearing her dictate to the computer, but the first time she’d done it in his lab it had apparently broken some sort of Science! block that he was having (like writers block, but with missiles). Now he wanted her dictating in the lab most of the time, calling it a good luck charm. Who knew Tony Stark was superstitious? 

 

“So what fresh hell have you and Jarvis planned for today if I don’t move fast enough for you, slave driver?” Tony asked a little while later. 

 

“Well actually Pepper’s coming here right now, but if you try to duck out of your "Whoopsies, SHIELD turned out to be a front for Nazis" meeting with the Senator later today I’ve been feeling nostalgic for the Spice Girls.” Darcy quipped, grinning at him. Tony just shook his head, putting down the wrench and reaching for a rag. Darcy’s tablet turned itself on, Pepper’s face filling the screen. 

 

“Hey Pepper, we’re just about ready for you.” Darcy offered. Pepper had stopped checking to make sure they were getting ready a month ago, so this was a little strange.

 

“No, no, I know you’re cleaning him up.” Pepper smiled. “It’s just that Hammer’s package hasn’t gotten here yet.”

 

Darcy grimaced at the word choice. “And for that, we can all be thankful.” Tony called out from across the room. Darcy giggled and Pepper rolled her eyes.

 

“Well, if that’s all-“

 

The window behind Tony exploded inward, and Darcy shrieked and fell backwards before scurrying under her desk. Pepper was yelling from the StarkSlate but it was the lack of noise coming from Tony that had Darcy really worried. When it seemed like all the glass had settled, she peeked out from below her desk. Tony was lying in the middle of the lab, moaning, and an eight-foot tall robot stood about four feet into the lab from the window it had broken in, not moving at all. Just in case, Darcy palmed her taser as she approached her boss.

 

Running her hand over Tony’s face, Darcy never took her eyes off the robot. She dipped her fingers below his chin, looking for glass or cuts in his neck and was relieved not to find anything.

 

“Tony. Tony. Say something.” She whispered.

 

“Whaaaaaat the hell was that?” He groaned, still not moving. 

 

“It’s a robot.” 

 

“I saw that Lewis. Why is it here?”

 

“Well you’re the robot expert, why the hell would I know?”

 

The eyes in the robot suddenly lit up, and it started walking towards them. Tony was still struggling to stand up so Darcy stepped over his legs, putting herself between her boss and the scary robot.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Lewis?” Tony hissed. “Get out of here!”

 

Darcy ignored him and aimed the taser at the inside of the robot’s elbow joint, which was gaping open with every swing of its arm. She pulled the trigger, hitting the weak spot, and was stunned when the robot stopped moving forward. It pulled itself up to stand at attention, and started vibrating, smoke oozing from its joints. Shortly after that it’s head, then arms, then whole torso started spinning rapidly. The lead was ripped out of the taser, and Darcy whirled around and down, grabbing Tony by his armpits and tugging him behind a lab bench while he pushed with his feet. both peeked around the edge of the table, dumbfounded as the robot seemed to start disassembling itself. 

 

The head came off first, clattering to the ground noisily. Darcy and Tony pulled their heads back behind the table again as the arms came flying off, crashing through the lab before the torso ripped itself off at the hips. It lay on the ground spewing nuts and bolts as the legs stayed up right, jerking violently. Tony grabbed a thick book off the bench and hurled it at the legs, knocking them down. They twisted themselves out of their sockets at the hips before the knees and ankles unscrewed themselves as well. 

 

“Was that the taser I made you?” Tony sounded dumbfounded.

 

“Nope, it’s the one I bought as a freshman.” Darcy replied. 

 

As all the noise died down, they locked eyes as quiet finally settled in the lab. After a moment, Tony used the side of the bench and hauled himself to his feet, grimacing. Pepper began yelling into the tablet about the Avengers nearly being there.

 

“We’re fine, Pep.” Tony called out. 

 

“What’s happening Tony?” Pepper demanded shrilly.

 

“I think Hammer’s delivery arrived.”

 

“What?” Pepper shrieked. 

 

“It got taken down by a commercially available taser. Sounds like Hammer Tech to me.” Tony explained grimly.

 

Pepper cursed virulently before announcing, “I’m coming up there.” 

 

“Ok.” Darcy replied, joining Tony on her feet. The Stark Quinjet pulled up to the window and Captain America and the Black Widow jumped though the window. Rodgers lowered his shield when he realized Darcy and Tony were safe and Natasha touched her ear com.

 

“Land the jet, Hawkeye. They’re fine.” The jet shot straight up out of sight, aiming for the roof just as the elevator opened. 

 

“Oh my God!” Pepper yelled as soon as she saw the broken window. She crossed the room to it and looked out, bracing her hand on the glass in the pane. “What the hell happened?”

 

“That used to be a robot before Lewis disassembled it.” Tony said, gesturing to the scrap metal covering the floor. Steve and Natasha gave Darcy startled looks, and everything was quiet for a minute, before Darcy’s boyfriend, and the new head of Stark Industries security, slid in through the broken window, hanging on to a grappling hook. 

 

“Darcy!” He yelled, dropping the line and crossing the room to her quickly, he pulled her into a tight hug, which surprised her (Clint almost never committed PDA in front of the team, Natasha being the exception to that rule) before he grabbed her by the biceps and pushed her away so he could see her face.

 

“What happened?” He demanded, looking her over for injuries. 

 

“Robot broke in, I tased it, it fell apart.” Darcy summarized. Clint’s jaw dropped. 

 

“Jesus Darce, why would you tase a robot?” He demanded.

 

Darcy broke his hold on her arms and gestured to the bulk of the demolished robot. “It worked!” she protested. Clint closed his eyes and brought his hands up to rub his temples. 

 

“It was a stupid thing to do.” Tony said heatedly from behind Clint. Darcy leaned over to point at him from around Clint’s chest. 

 

“You got knocked out, Bossman. You’re going to the hospital to get your head checked.” Pepper immediately reached up to his forehead, probing what looked like a nasty bump.

 

“Only if you get your head checked too.” He argued. “I told you to run, dammit.” Darcy narrowed her eyes at him.

 

“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” She said hotly. 

 

“Yeah, I do.” He shot back. Pepper put her hands up.

 

“Stop it, both of you.” She snapped. “Tony, get in the elevator, we’re going to the hospital.”

 

“I’m fine, Pep.” Tony snarled. Everyone sucked in air and stepped back from the two of them, even Clint. Pepper turned a glare on him that could melt a glacier. 

 

“Get. In. That. Elevator. NOW.” Pepper bit each word off. Tony’s shoulders tensed a little, stubbornly about to keep arguing, before Natasha stepped in and put a hand on his back.

 

“Come on Stark, let’s go.” Even Tony knew better than to argue with Natasha, and his shoulders slumped with defeat.

 

Tony, Pepper, and Natasha left without another word; though Tony glowered at Darcy in a way that made her sure she was going to get chewed out later. Looking back at Steve and Clint’s grim faces, it seemed like she was going to get chewed out now, too.

 

Hoping to delay the lecture she was about to get, she walked to the corner and grabbed a broom before returning to the robot. Clint snatched the broom from her, throwing it over his shoulder and out of her reach. 

 

“You fought a robot.” His voice was deceptively calm, in contrast to what he’d just done. Darcy shrugged. 

 

“Tony was flat on his back. No armor, no nothing. So yes, I fought a robot. Remember the part where I won?” Clint’s jaw clenched. 

 

“You’re starting self defense with Nat. Tomorrow.” Darcy snarled right back at him. 

 

“Tony may be my boss, but you definitely don’t get to tell me what to do.” She snapped.

 

“You can’t seem to stop throwing yourself in the middle of trouble.” His voice was getting a little louder, a little less tightly controlled. “What if you get hurt!?”

 

Darcy threw her hands up. “Again, it worked! I’m fine.”

 

“Your taser isn’t going to work every time, Darcy.” Steve interjected. He looked worried.

 

Darcy looked back to Clint, his face unyielding, anger simmering in his eyes.

 

“Out.” Darcy said firmly. “Both of you. I need to clean this up.” Clint’s hands flexed open and closed, like he really wanted to grab her again, so she stepped back, glaring at him. “Do not touch me.”

 

He spun on his heel, crunching glass and robot guts on his way to the stairs without waiting for Steve. Steve stayed where he was, looking uncertain. When the door slammed shut behind Clint, Steve shook his head at her. 

 

“I’m fine. I’m going to box this up for Tony.” She said flatly. 

 

“I’ve never seen him so scared as when Pepper called and said you were under attack.” Steve told her, still not moving. Darcy ignored him and went to get the broom. 

 

“He’s just worried.” Steve continued. 

 

“You think I don’t know that?” She asked disbelievingly, finally looking up to meet his eyes. “Of course I know that. What kind of an idiot do you think I am?” His eyes crinkled in confusion. 

 

“Then why are you angry?”

 

Darcy gestured wildly with her arms. “Because his first instinct is to start bossing me around! If that – “ She flung her arm out at the door. “Stupid soldier boy thinks he can toss out orders and I’ll fall in line like a good little recruit then he’s got another thing coming. Tony too.” Steve just looked a little lost.

 

“I did a good thing!” She yelled at him. “Tony would have been hurt badly or… or… worse, if that thing got any closer! And all you people care about is that I could have been hurt?” Steve’s face smoothed out into a hurt look that gave Darcy pause.

 

“I don’t like that none of you think I can take care of myself.” She said in a more moderate tone. “And when you guys gang up on me like that, or when you just start ordering me around, I feel like I did when Loki was here and I was hiding behind you. I hate that.”

 

“Then why are you against taking self-defense?” At least Steve was talking to her instead of looking like a kicked puppy. 

 

“I’m against being told to do something like I’m a child.” Darcy clarified. 

 

“That’s stubbornness Darcy.” She shrugged. Water is wet, the sky is blue, Darcy Lewis is stubborn. It's just a fact. 

 

“When I say no, I expect that to be respected. I told Clint and Natasha no a long time ago.” 

 

Steve shook his head, but the conversation had hit a natural stopping place, so he let it go. He did hang around while Darcy and DUM-E cleaned up and boxed the robot, putting it on a lab bench in four big sealed boxes. She called her friend in the Senator's office and postponed the meeting before calling Pepper. Tony had a minor concussion, but they were still going to the party that night, so Darcy should wait for the window fixers to finish and then go start getting ready. Darcy wasn’t comfortable leaving the robot parts in the lab, so Steve carried them downstairs. The temp receptionist who took them was star-struck by meeting Captain America, and Darcy left Steve to deal with the cooing fan, heading back up to the lab. The glaziers arrived quickly, and fixed the window faster than she’d have thought possible. In less than an hour, she was headed down to her apartment.

 

Clint was there, lying on top of the covers with an arm over his eyes. Darcy wasn’t ready to deal with him in this mood, so she grabbed a towel and went straight into bathroom. She took a long shower, carefully buffing and polishing her skin, before getting out and putting on grubby clothes. She left Clint still on the bed and went upstairs to the hair and make-up stylist waiting in Pepper’s office bathroom. 

 

When she came back down an hour later, the shower was running in the bathroom so she just went into their closet, carefully putting on a simple but beautiful knee length, tight black dress. She was too short to pull off the floor length ball gowns that Pepper wore, but tight dresses made her boobs pop, so she didn’t feel totally inadequate next to Pepper. She sat down on the little ottoman they kept in there to put on her shoes, and while her back was turned, the closet darkened a little. Knowing it was Clint, she just finished putting her shoes on and stood, turning to face him. 

 

He was only wearing a towel around his hips, and his face pulled tight when he got a good look at her in her party dress. She raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking if they were going to keep fighting, and he shook his head. They stepped around each other without a word, and Darcy settled onto their couch, tablet in hand as she started reading ahead for the next day’s outing. When he was dressed, Clint came out and leaned against the back of the couch, not facing her. When Darcy twisted her head around to see him, he had his arms folded over his chest and his gaze fixed firmly on the front door.

 

Darcy went back to her reading, not willing to be the first one to break the sullen silence. 

 

“This is stupid.” Clint finally muttered, ten minutes later. Darcy stayed quiet. “I just want you safe.” He said. 

 

“And I want you safe.” She finally said. 

 

“I train constantly to stay safe.” He pointed out. 

 

“And yet, you fell out of a helicopter last week and had to be saved by Iron Man.” Darcy snarked back. “Notice how I didn’t freak out and demand you take skydiving lessons?”

 

He was quiet for a long time. “So…”

 

“You’re not my caretaker. You don’t get to force me to take self-defense, or offense, or super ninja spy skills classes. I get to make those decisions.” Her tablet beeped, letting her know Tony and Pepper were heading downstairs. She stood up and turned to face Clint. “I’m going to a big fancy party to keep Tony from making an ass of himself. I’ll be back after midnight.” Clint nodded, still not facing her. Darcy walked to the front door, pausing before she left. 

 

“I love you, you giant asshole.” She closed the door before he could say anything. If he’d even been about to say anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony was still pissed at her, but Pepper negotiated a truce on the ride over, so that they were civil to each other that night and they would fight it out in the morning. Darcy was tasked with keeping Tony from drinking because he had a concussion, so she spent most of the night hovering by his elbow, taking champagne from him when he grabbed glasses off of trays absentmindedly. Darcy had just turned to give one of the waiters back a glass when she heard Tony groan. 

 

“Tony! Tony, old friend old buddy old-“

 

“What do you want, Hammer.” Tony interrupted in a flat voice. Darcy turned back to see Justin Hammer standing just a little too close to Tony, excitement writ all over his face.

 

“Well, I was just wondering what you make of the-“ Hammer broke off and looked around the room furtively, as though he expected people to be listening in. “The package I sent you today?” He finished in a whisper. Darcy couldn’t hold back a grimace. No one wanted Hammer’s package, either the robot or the crude image that kept springing to her mind. 

 

Tony reached up and touched the bandage on his forehead. “It came through my window, Hammer. I wasn’t too thrilled with it.”

 

Hammer finally frowned. “It was programmed to take the elevator.” Darcy rolled her eyes. You get told that your robot broke out a window in a Manhattan skyscraper and you’re not worried about people getting hurt? What a douche. 

 

Tony apparently agreed. “In case you were wondering, I have nets set up to catch glass falling from the top floors. They deployed like they were supposed to, no bystanders got hurt.”

 

Hammer flushed and stammered. “Oh, of course, I trusted that you had protocols to…”

 

“Whatever.” Tony broke in again.

 

“Well, in that case.” Hammer continued. “I guess I’m just wondering, Tony, if you’d be willing to partner with me on this latest venture.” Tony’s eyebrows rose as far as the bandage would allow.

 

“Justin, old friend old buddy old pal… Lewis here-” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to Darcy, who smiled brightly and waved. “took apart your little toy there in a matter of seconds. Stark Industries is so far ahead of your stone age "innovations", there’s absolutely nothing in it for us to partner with you, even if I wasn’t still pissed about you trying to kill me a few years ago.” Darcy was surprised when Hammer actually looked… scared. His face lost all its color. 

 

“I boxed it up and it was on its way back to your labs.” Darcy added helpfully. 

 

“There ya go.” Tony finished, already turning away to the next person who wanted his attention. Hammer stood to the side awkwardly trying to re-engage Tony for a full five minutes before pretending he saw someone he knew and slinking away.

 

Around 10:30, Pepper told her to go get a drink and some food, and Darcy gladly escaped. She grabbed a glass of wine and some fancy cheese and snuck into a corner, closing her eyes as she sipped to enjoy the quiet. People were constantly talking to Tony, yelling at Tony, and trying to pass Tony notes or panties or babies. It was freaking exhausting. 

 

“So.” Someone said from in front of her.

 

“Shhhhh.” She whispered, trying to hold on to her imagined oasis. 

 

“Excuse me?” The man’s voice sounded familiar. Kind of whinny, no matter what he said. Darcy cracked her eyes open and screwed her mouth up.

 

“Oh, you.” She told Justin Hammer. He looked surprised by her biting tone of voice.

 

He cleared his throat. “Uh, sure. Hey, so you’re Stark’s new squeeze, right?” Darcy arched her eyebrows high.

 

“I’m his assistant.” She said neutrally. 

 

“Right, of course, ‘assistant’ that he’s carried naked out of his Tower twice now.” Hammer winked conspiratorially. Darcy didn’t even try to repress her shudder. He must have been on his best behavior for Tony earlier.

 

“I don’t really care what you think.” She told him, putting down her sausage plate. She tried to go around him, but he stepped over to block her exit. “Was there something you wanted?” She asked exasperated. 

 

“It’s just, I have to know. How does it work? Potts gets him on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and you get him the rest of the week? Or is it like threesomes all the time. ‘Cause that’s hot, if that’s what it is. You and Potts together.” Ugh. Gross. Gross. Gross. The thought of this weasel perving out over her made her skin crawl. 

 

“Back the fuck up out of my way.” She told him, already starting to walk forward. He smirked at her, clearly glad to have gotten under her skin, so she tossed her wine into his face. He stumbled back with a muffled shriek and she slid past without touching him and walked straight back to Tony, grabbing his arm.

 

“Can we talk, Bossman?” She asked, jerking her head towards the nearby gardens. Tony looked surprised, but abruptly left the conversation and let her tow him outside.

 

“Justin Hammer just asked if I have nightly threesomes with you and Pepper.” She said bluntly. Tony choked on his own spit, looking stunned and a little confused. He probably wasn’t sure whether to be turned on by the thought or grossed out that Hammer was the one thinking it.

 

“He blocked me into a corner and tried to keep me from leaving.” She continued, pointing to her ear. As Tony got himself under control she mouthed ‘Planted a bug?’ He pulled out a scanner he kept on himself at all times, and when it was right in front of her it started beeping. He passed it over her front before walking behind her, and it pinged to announce that the bug was on her back, just below a decorative fold down collar. Tony showed her before he pinched it between his fingers, killing it, and his scanner shut up. His face was tight with anger.

 

“Take the car and go home.” He told her, his voice short with tension. She nodded, pulling out her phone to text Clint she’d be back early.

 

“I’ll tell Clint.” She told him as she texted. Tony grunted to let her know he’d heard her and walked back inside, probably to find Pepper. Darcy walked back through the party, head down to avoid conversation, not looking up until she was descending the front steps to the car that Happy Hogan already had waiting for her.

 

“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot there.” Hammer surprised her, walking out from behind a shrub before Darcy had reached the bottom of the stairs. Wary of being bugged again, she stopped on the third step up.

 

“Stay away from me.” She snapped. 

 

“Sorry, sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. “I didn’t mean to freak you out, or scare you. It’s just you’re so…” He leered at her in a way that had her stomach threatening to empty itself. “Gorgeous, babe.” Darcy’s upper lip curled in disgust. “How about we go get a drink? Just you and me, let me say sorry for being… crass.”

 

“Not a chance.” Darcy told him bluntly. He smiled in a self deprecating way. 

 

“I guess I deserve that… You seem like a nice gal. I was just hoping…” Even his speech pattern pissed Darcy off, the way he kept trailing off like he expected her to finish his sentences for him. She didn’t know if he knew they’d found and destroyed the bug yet, but on the off chance he didn’t know she wouldn’t throw that knowledge in his face just yet, even though it would be satisfying to see his weasely face pinch when he knew his little plot had been foiled. 

 

Careful to keep her distance from him, she gave him a wide berth as she walked to the door Happy had just opened for her. “Leave. Me. Alone.” She told him, before sliding into the car as Happy closed the door behind her.

 

Clint opened the door to their suite before she’d even gotten her key out, standing aside so that she could pass him. Jarvis had cleared her of any more clandestine listening devices in the elevator, but her skin crawled at the thought that Hammer had touched her so she went straight to the bathroom without a word, dropping her clothes as she went.

 

She left the door open but ducked straight into the shower, turning the heat up as high as she could stand.

 

“Jesus Darce, are you still that pissed at me?” Clint leaned on the doorframe, sounding disbelieving. “Nat said she wouldn’t start the lessons anyway, not unless you told her you wanted them.”

 

“No-“ Darcy started, but he bowled over her.

 

“It’s not like you to stay mad like this."

"Hey, c-"

"What else bothering you? Is it-” 

 

“CLINT!” Darcy bellowed, and he stopped talking. The silence that followed her outburst was only broken by her taking and then releasing a deep, cleansing breath.

 

“Justin Hammer said gross things to me.” She told him, continuing to scrub off the night’s accumulation of nasty. “Then he planted a bug on me. Then he asked me out for drinks. I really want to wash him off of me and out of my brain before I touch you.” Without looking at Clint, she turned her face up to the stream, letting the water loosen up her make-up before she soaped it off. 

 

The light in the room changed as Clint moved around, she could tell from behind her eyelids, and she murmured, “You’d better not have left.”

 

“I’m here.” He said from right outside the shower door, and then it was opening and his hands were on her. She leaned into him until her back melted into his front, and he moved his hands around to rub up and down her sides. “I’m right here.”

 

Darcy reached up with her left hand and twined her arm around his neck. “Good.” She murmured as she pulled him in for a lingering, steamy kiss. When they broke apart, she returned to trying to disinfect herself. Clint alternately helped, and hindered whenever he found an area of her body he felt needed special attention. When they finally emerged from the shower, Darcy couldn’t shake the smile lighting her face. They toweled each other off and crawled into bed naked, tangling limbs as they talked about her night.

 

“All debriefs should be like this.” Clint decided as he ran a hand up and down her bare back when she finished her story, and she laughed.

 

“I had no idea you felt that way about Fury.” She giggled at the horrified face he pulled.

 

“Aww, why’d you have to go there?” He grumbled. She leaned up and kissed his stubbly chin, and he looked mollified when she pulled away to see his face.

 

“So what do you think that was?” She asked, serious now. “Really, really bad corporate espionage?” 

 

He hummed as he thought. “It looks that way.”

 

Darcy reached up to trace designs on his chest with her fingertips, reviewing the night in her mind. “He looked really freaked when Tony told him the robot was broke and Stark Industries wasn’t going to partner with him. It looked like more than just worry about profit margins.” 

 

“He’s not a good one, at all, but he pretends he’s a scientist like Stark or Jane. Could be he was offended that someone could take apart his work so quickly.” Clint offered.

 

Darcy locked her eyes on his. “Whatever his deal was, it didn’t feel over. Not by a long shot.”

 

He nodded once. “You’ve got good instincts.” He admitted. “Can I set up a security detail?” She scrunched up her nose in a show of distaste, but nodded. It was a huge step forward that he'd even asked, so she could be gracious. 

 

“Only if you step up Tony’s security too.”

 

“You two are practically joined at the hip.” Clint observed dryly. “Shouldn’t be too hard to cover the both of you.” Darcy relaxed and pressed her face into his chest. They talked a little more about the logistics of her new security detail, before drifting off to sleep.

 

The next morning, Darcy woke up alone in bed. Clint usually got up early to work out, or go the range, so it wasn’t unusual. He’d been surprisingly reasonable about her security detail – she wasn’t going to be followed inside the Tower, or at the mansion, just when she was traveling between the two or out in the city. She’d been expecting a fight about still having free run of the city, but Clint hadn’t objected at all when she said she had to go to Target that day. 

 

It was technically her day off, but that really meant she had a half-day. She went up to the labs in the Tower or down to the basement labs at the mansion and made sure Tony was fed and watered every day, no matter what. When she wasn’t supposed to be working that day, she either took off into the city to do her own thing, or stuck around the labs just hanging out with Tony. So she showered and headed up, steeling herself for what was probably going to be the first big fight she’d have with Tony.

 

“Lewis.” He greeted her coldly when she stepped off the elevator.

 

“Tony.” She replied evenly. “Had breakfast yet?”

 

He shook his head in the negative, keeping his gaze locked on the screen in front of him. She walked over to the dumbwaiter that had been installed when the tower was being fixed and programmed one of his awful protein shakes to be sent up. When she put it down in front of him, he swung the monitor around so that she could see. 

 

“Here’s the security footage from yesterday.” He told her needlessly. She could see what it was.

 

The giant robot dwarfed her in the video. She was abruptly reminded of the robot in Puente Antiguo. She wondered how she hadn’t made the connection before. They watched in silence, up until Tony knocked the legs over.

 

“You could have been… seriously hurt.” Tony said as he paused the video. Darcy jumped up to sit on the bench, facing him as she swung her legs back and forth.

 

“Well I love you, and there was no way I was going to run away and let you die.” She said simply. Tony blanched, shooting his eyes up to meet hers.

 

“Whoa, Lewis.” He sounded very uncomfortable. Scared, even. Darcy rolled her eyes.

 

“I’m not in love with you Bossman. Like, eew.” Tony didn’t look reassured, so she patted his hand. “Don’t worry, if that line ever got crossed, you’d know. Clint would put an arrow in your balls.”

 

Tony groaned and leaned forward to put his face in his hands. Darcy just patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts, still swinging her legs.

 

“You can’t just dump that on a man, Lewis.” He finally said. “I’m trying to be mad at you here.” Darcy just smiled at him.

 

“It’s okay, I know you love me too.” 

 

“Oh really?”

 

“Really really. You wouldn’t be mad at me if you didn’t.” It was Tony’s turn to roll his eyes.

 

“I’m mad that you didn’t run when I told you to.”

 

“You tell me to run when you’re in the suit, and I will lead the charge in the direction you point. When you’re just you though…” She resisted the urge to reach out and hug him, knowing he wouldn’t welcome it right then. “When you’re all squishy and brittle and breakable, I could never leave you lying on the ground like that.”

 

Tony was quiet again, so Darcy hopped off the bench. “Good talk, Bossman. Seeya later.” She patted his shoulder and left without another word.


End file.
